A NAVY hero who saved a sinking ship with a crew of 250 on board is being rewarded for his bravery.

Petty Officer Darren Bennion, 35, is to receive the Queen's Award for Bravery.

The Alsager man worked below deck, surrounded by burning electrical equipment, to prevent HMS Nottingham from sinking off the coast of Australia in July last year.

His mother, Glenis Micklewright, a former landlady at The Limes pub in Sandbach, has only just heard details of her son's heroics and is to be invited to the presentation.

A report on the incident was released this week to coincide with the naming of the men in the Ministry of Defence's operational honours list.

It revealed how Darren and his colleagues in the engine room worked for six hours to save the ship from disaster after it ran aground on rocks off Lord Howe Island.

It went on to describe how water rose up to 20ft in the ship and how officers fought through 500 tons of water seeping into the 3,500-ton ship's hull.

Darren worked to repair the gaping hole by laying timber.

Glenis, of Talke Road, Alsager, said: 'The ship had just sailed off from an island when it hit a rock and got stuck. There was a big hole and Darren and his colleagues had to try to block it and pump water out.

'The fuel tank had split, sending fuel on to the water, and then electrical equipment caught fire. In the chaos of it all they risked drowning or being burned as they tried to save the ship.

'Amazingly, they managed to get it back into position and live to tell the tale.'

Darren celebrated his 35th birthday at the weekend with fellow crew stationed on HMS Exeter at Portsmouth.

He worked at the Eric Alcock electrical appliance shop in Alsager before joining the Royal Navy 11 years ago.

His mother said: 'Darren was sea-sick when he went on a ferry as a child and had never set foot on a ship since. But we think he was inspired to join the forces by his grandad, who had been the Army, and his famous great uncle, George Bennion, who flew a Spitf ire in the Second World War.'